News from BarrowJournal - Topics from March, 2011

As they begin work this week on their spending plans for fiscal year 2012, county and school officials are bracing for what may be the most difficult budgets they have faced since the start of the recession three years ago. At its budget kickoff meeting Monday afternoon, the Barrow County Board of Commissioners learned that revenues for the ...
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The Winder Police Department will host its second Town Hall meeting April 19, for residents and businesses within Zone 3 of the City of Winder. This Zone is defined as addresses north of the railroad tracks and west of North Broad Street. The meeting with be held at the Constance Manor Hall, Winder at 6:30 p.m.

The Barrow County Board of Education approved the expenditure of $182,000 at its March 29 meeting to pay for a new partial roof at the College and Career Prep Academy, two exterior stairways at the new Alternative School, maintenance work required to bring the school bus fleet up to par and a loan which will be repaid to the board to buy new ...
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The City of Auburn presented architectural renderings from Morrison Design and Robert and Company at a public hearing Tuesday for a $2 million purchase of the Hawthorne House with a USDA loan. Provided the loan is approved, the project will include a $1.1 million new structure on the property and renovation to the current house. The city plans ...
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The City of Auburn presented architectural renderings from Morrison Design and Robert and Company at a public hearing Tuesday for the creation of a conference center/social event gathering place with a $2 million USDA loan. Provided the loan is approved, the project will include building an estimated $1.1 million new structure on the property ...
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Barrow County’s legislative delegation announced Tuesday night that it is withdrawing a bill to set up a Barrow County charter review commission. That leaves the upcoming review of the county’s government structure in the hands of the Barrow County Board of Commissioners, which previously had voted to appoint its own citizens committee to ...
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An officer was dispatched to an area near Highway 316 and Highway 53 in response to a report of a man running down the road. When the officer made contact with the man, he asked him what he was doing. The man said he was trying to get some exercise so he was running home from Statham. The officer could smell a strong odor of alcohol coming from ...
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As the Barrow County School System moves toward a “charter” designation, there has been some confusion about what that means. Although the term “charter” gets used a lot in education circles, what the BCSS is doing is not a “charter school” but rather a “charter system.” Under this model, the system overall contracts with the ...
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Broken windows, roofs in need of replacement, overgrown bushes and condemned houses stuck out like a sore thumb in Winder last Thursday. Those are just some of the sites the community housing committee has its eye on in proposed revitalization efforts. The seven-member Georgia Initiative for Community Housing (GICH) committee, riding in a ...
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Two Barrow County homes were struck by lightening Saturday night causing minor damage in one and a major fire to the other, according to Barrow County Emergency Services. A home on Flanagan Mill Drive was hit causing some damage to the house, but no fire. A singlewide trailer being used for storage was struck on Akins Road and was totally ...